King of In Between' comes to Sellersville

“I don’t get down about it, but I can feel something about it. I think I have some beefs with the record industry for not following through,” Jeffreys said in a telephone interview on Jan. 9. “Perhaps it was the idea that I would talk about certain subjects like race, like politics, like issues you might even call intellectual. There’s not much of a place for that in rock ‘n’ roll today or in the past in rock ‘n’ roll. I certainly think I put out some albums that should have been big hits.”

A musician and lyricist born out of the 1970s New York music scene, Jeffreys befriended and collaborated with such acts as Bruce Springsteen, Television, and Lou Reed but never achieved the superstardom that he seemed all but destined for.

After releasing a string of critically-acclaimed albums in the late ’70s and early ’80s, beginning with his biggest hit “Wild in the Streets” in 1973, Jeffreys took an 11-year hiatus from music to raise a family. Calling from his home in the East Village in New York, Jeffreys spoke candidly of how his most recent album, “The King of In Between,” came to fruition and how the title perfectly captures his musical style.

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“I started writing, I started putting pieces together. I like titles that spark me. You come up with an idea like ‘The King of In Between’ or ‘The Contortionist’ , you better come up with something good,” he laughed.

“A lot of artists make records that’s one style and I didn’t feel a challenge there. I like the blues, jazz, rock. I like my song ‘Love Is Not a Cliché’. I like my rock ‘n’ roll with a dash of soul, and funky. I like a message in my sound to tell everyone what’s going down, never want to leave this town. That spells out my connection to variety. It’s something that people can connect with and that’s crucial. At least my fans are out there and they love it.”

As for his launch hit song “Wild in the Streets,” most recently featured in the 2012 video game Max Payne 3, Jeffreys remembers the tragic events that led to the song’s creation.

“That was a perfect example of responding to a particular situation and being connected to it in such a way that I was inspired to write a song about it. It’s about a murder in the Bronx. Two young kids, must have been 12 and 13, threw a 14-year-old girl off the roof of an apartment building and I wrote the song based on that. More metaphorically, but that is the essence of what it’s about. I was off to the races — that was really my kind of inspiration. First of all, I could do it, I could make pop music, rock ‘n’ roll and still say something with meaning. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Following the release of his eighth solo album “Guts for Love,” Jeffreys left the music business behind for 14 years to help raise his daughter Savanna, 16, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We’re the parents of a lovely child; she’s the daughter of two good people,” Jeffreys said. “My kid will follow me; she can sing too. She’s young enough to not really even be in touch with how talented she really is. Savannah will often open my shows with a few of her songs. She’s played in Europe on a trip, played a song for 5,000 people. She’s not really afraid; it’s very natural for her.”

When it comes to performing live, his approach has been carefully cultivated over the years.

“I like to have the mic in the center of the stage, a straight stand, not a boom stand. A straight stand. My musicians behind me, across the back. Drums, bass, guitar, keyboards. The audience is out there; they know what they’re gonna get because they’ve had the experience before. It’s like a sin if you don’t give them a great performance and you’re capable of it,” he said.

Fans attending Jeffreys’ concert at the Sellersville Theater later this month can expect the artist at his best.

“I will do everything I can to entertain the audience, to give them what they came for. People are coming to see me because they know what I’m going to give them and I will deliver. I’m 69, hitting 70 in a few months, and I have all the vitality and energy that I need to continue. I’ve had a full life that I don’t want to end. I’m not going anywhere — that’s what I feel. I’m having a pretty good time; I’m having a pretty good life.”